September 12, 2005

Katrina Survivor Shares His Story

By | September 12, 2005

Rami Chami is a former editor at the Indiana Daily Student and was one of many to take refuge from Hurricane Katrina in the Superdome. He graduated from Indiana University in August and was to begin his graduate studies at Tulane University this month. He began classes at Cornell last week.

I graduated from Indiana University in August and moved to New Orleans to start a graduate program at Tulane University four days before Hurricane Katrina struck. I arrived on a Thursday afternoon and was staying at a hostel on Canal Street where the guests were mostly European and Australian backpackers. Immediately after arriving, I was very busy searching for an apartment, taking care of university paper work, and getting settled into the city affectionately known as the Big Easy.

Campus was abuzz with orientation activity, and in one of my classes that had yet to meet, we had been issued an assignment that was due the following week. Life and services in the city were in full swing. Friday evening, about 36 hours before I headed to the Superdome, the bars and cabarets of raunchy Bourbon Street were packed with tourists, live performing musicians, and sliver-painted mimes. The French Quarter, famous for its intricately decorated balconies, had refused to give up its festive cheer, and the popular drink special advertised everywhere was a drink called the Hurricane.

I now hear in the media that local officials had ordered a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans on the Thursday I arrived in the city, but until Sunday I personally had only heard of a voluntary evacuation order. Saturday afternoon, I opened a bank account at a normal operating Chase branch office. I may have been, and probably was, ill-informed, but I took the normality of the city and the fact that Tulane University only postponed classes by one day as an indication that riding out the hurricane would be a manageable experience.

The small hostel I was staying at initially said they would stay open and allow guests to remain there during the hurricane, but they later informed us Sunday morning that we would have to seek shelter at the Superdome. Under a peaceful blue sky and bright sun I walked with a couple of other people from the hostel to a nearby school from where the city began busing people to the Superdome at noon.

Upon arriving at the dome, we queued in a four hour line to get inside the imposing stadium in the heart of downtown. People around me eyeing the immense stadium expressed relief and noted that it would undoubtedly withstand the hurricane. Before entering the building we were thoroughly searched and frisked by National Guardsmen looking for alcohol and weapons.

There were no civilian government officials inside or around the Superdome. The facility was entirely manned by the military, primarily members of the National Guard.

Inside the Superdome we were directed to seats on the first level of the stadium, and the military would only open up an adjacent cluster of seats when the preceding cluster was filled with people. By evening the clouds ahead of the hurricane began to rain, and the majority of people who would begin their stay at the dome had hunkered down in the gargantuan stadium. With two massive unoccupied seating levels above us and the first level of the stadium not even filled up, the building seemed somewhat empty to me.

The first and only address over the public address system was given that evening by an official from the Superdome and a high ranking military officer. They welcomed us to the Superdome, thanked the New Orleans Saints and the National Guard, and explained that food and water would be handed out daily. They informed us that by the next morning the electrical power would be cut and we would be running on generator power with dimmer lights and no ventilation. The brief address was ended with a request that we be patient with the officials and one another.

It was after midnight by now, and I realized that sleeping upright in a stadium seat was going to be neither easy nor comfortable. You could not stretch out across the seats because of the metal armrests between each of the chairs. Space on the floor between the rows of the seats was limited in the small section of the stadium to which we were restricted. The football field before us, which would have been ideal to lay down on was empty but off bounds. The field was manned by National Guardsmen who would not allow people on it. I was told by those around me that it was a multi-million dollar field which the stadium management did not want ruined.

I managed to sleep five hours before Katrina descended upon New Orleans, but little did I realize that by the next morning a rapid series of events would turn my stay in the Big Easy onto a very slippery downward spiral and open a fascinating window into the human condition under intense strain. I was about to get a very intimate look at misery, fear, racism, poverty and intimidation. I would also come to witness some of the ineptness of the government’s response, and the bravery and selfless compassion of others.

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BySeptember 13, 2005

From the outside, the Salvation Army, located on Route 13 in Ithaca, looks just like any other store you would find in a shopping center. It is full of clothes, accessories and assorted other items. The only difference is that everything is donated to the store by its previous owners. And although not everyone enjoys wearing someone’s old clothes, the vintage look is generally a great way to make a fashion statement. The biggest problem is trying to find stylish clothes hanging in between the racks of unattractive ones. In my hometown there are two types of vintage stores: the Goodwill, which has a distinctive unpleasant smell and usually unattractive clothing, and the chic vintage stores of the city. Ithaca’s Salvation Army store seems to be a blend of these two types of store. On one hand the store seems clean and is thankfully missing the foul smell of used clothing, yet at first glance it is also lacking anything even remotely fashionable. On my first walk around the store, the only redeeming quality that I could find for the store was that its prices were low; for the most part, no single article of the clothing cost more than $5.99, with most costing considerably less. The store even had a section of household appliances and furniture, some of which were also priced reasonably; there was a nice collection of couches ranging from $70 to $120, which seemed great for furnishing a new apartment. Disappointed by the clothing selection, I was ready to leave the store until I saw two hip, college-aged girls trying on some of their finds in a mirror. One of the girls was trying on an adorable tweed blazer, a blazer that I would have loved to add to my collection. Not only was this blazer extremely stylish, but it also cost $5.99, less than my lunch cost that day! So I gave my search another try. After seeing these girls, I began to dig through the racks, and I realized that my initial impressions were inaccurate. The Salvation Army store did in fact have some cute clothes; they were simply hidden among the faded styles of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. If you are planning to go shopping at the Salvation Army, it is important to keep your fashion sense in mind; people looking for brand-name clothes at lower prices will not enjoy the store. It is nothing like the Dump and Run sale that was held here during Freshman Orientation. While I did see a few Express pants and Abercrombie tops on the racks, there weren’t nearly enough to justify the 40 minutes that I spent on the bus to get to the store. The store is much more suited for people with an indie rock kind of style – people who love unique accessories and wear clothes that can’t be found in the Pyramid Mall. Based on my digging through the racks and seeing what the other college students were buying, it seemed like the Salvation Army was a good place to buy inexpensive pants, shirts and sweaters with fun patterns, and random accessories like ties or purses. One downfall was that this store was lacking in cute, vintage t-shirts, a staple in most used clothing stores. I do have one word of advice to anyone planning on shopping at the Salvation Army: try on the clothes that you plan to buy before leaving the store. I fell in love with a pair of Gap jeans that just happened to be my size, but upon trying them on, I found a lovely gaping hole in the crotch. In the excitement of finding cute clothes, it’s easy to forget that they are used, so keep this in mind when buying anything in the store and check for stains and holes. Basically, if you feel like scouring through racks of ugly clothing in hopes of finding a hidden treasure, the Salvation Army is the place for you. It definitely had some worthwhile buys; they were simply hard to find. If you are looking for a unique find, or an outfit for an ’80s theme party, the it is open from 9 am to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 am to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Archived article by Tara Tavernia Sun Contributor

BySeptember 13, 2005

Coming off a 4-10-3 2004 campaign, the returning players of the women’s soccer team, led by captains Kara Ishikawa and Shannon Fraser, made a commitment to success a little less than a year ago. “We were disappointed after last season,” Fraser said. “The returning players really set their minds to getting better.” Following the example set by Fraser and Ishikawa, the Red went to work, participating in a more vigorous regimen than the team had ever used before. The team kept its coaches restless, constantly focusing on sharpening each player’s individual skills. “They kept wanting [assistant coach] Gretchen [Zigante] to work with them,” said head coach Berhane Andeberhan. “It got to the point where we were working in corridors when space wasn’t available. The whole team was heavily engaged in working on their skills.” Unlike past years when the team would gather for informal practices once a week, the captains made sure the entire Red squad met three times a week, taking full advantage every moment they were able to use Cornell’s indoor facilities. The Red even traveled to UMass to take part in an indoor tournament. Unable to stay overnight due to offseason regulations, the squad was forced to leave Ithaca early in the morning. Although the team arrived just minutes before kickoff of its first game, Cornell took the tournament title. The success last winter, however, was just a foreshadowing of what was to come this fall. Having outscored opponents, 8-1, through the team’s first three contests, the Red point to that offseason work as directly leading to Cornell’s (3-0-0) early season dominance. “We have had tremendous fitness this season,” said head coach Berhane Andeberhan. “Last winter made a significant difference. It really laid the ground work for this season.” Furthermore, the coach credits much of the team’s work ethic as a reflection of its leadership. “We have excellent captains – the best I’ve had at Cornell so far,” he said. “They do so much on and off the field.” Along those lines, Andeberhan believes that the way in which Ishikawa and Fraser assert their position not only creates a positive team culture, but also cultivates other leaders among the squad. “They command respect with their play and their leadership . They are among our top two or three players on the field and their work ethic is tremendous,” he said. “They are gym rats – they just love to play and they lead in such unassuming and effective ways that it really rubs off. Now, there are a lot of other wonderful leaders on the team – it really caught like wildfire and spread.” Now armed with its great leadership, improved skills from off-season work, and the addition of several talented freshmen, the Cornell squad feels ready for anything. “We’re really excited. The freshmen are great and the returners have been amazing,” Fraser said. “It feels great to get those first three wins and, heading into Ivy League play, we’re feeling very capable of winning some games.” Archived article by Scott ReichSun Staff Writer